


Trust

by halfpastmonsoon



Category: Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 09:05:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19002670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfpastmonsoon/pseuds/halfpastmonsoon
Summary: What if Yossarian didn't immediately say no to Orr?(author is coping, ok)





	Trust

'Why don't you ever fly with me?' Orr asked suddenly, and looked straight into  
Yossarian’s face for the first time. ‘There, that’s the question I want you to answer.  
Why don’t you ever fly with me?’

Yossarian looked away, avoiding the intense stare that drilled into his soul, awakening the sense of shame he'd been trying to ignore for the entire conversation. Perhaps even before then. 'You know why. I told you, they've got me flying lead bombardier most of the time,' he muttered.

'That's not why,' Orr said, shaking his head. ‘You went to Piltchard and Wren after  
the first Avignon mission and told them you didn’t ever want to fly with me. That’s  
why, isn’t it?'

'No, I didn't do that,' Yossarian lied, biting the inside of his cheek. He felt his skin turn hot. This was the last thing he wanted to be talking about.

'Yes, you did,' Orr insisted. 'You asked them to not assign you to any plane flown by me or Dobbs, or Huple. Because you didn't have confidence in us at the controls. And they told you they can't make an exception for you, out of fairness to the men who have to fly with us.'

'So, it didn't make a difference, then,' Yossarian pointed out. 'Why does it matter if I said anything or not?'

'But they've never made you fly with me.' Orr, back to working on the valve, continued addressing Yossarian without any bitterness in his voice, but instead with injured humility, which was infinitely more painful, and with a certain concern – which, in turn, was baffling. Yossarian knew, deep in his soul, that just about anything was safer than flying with Orr. Why was he so insistent? 'You really should fly with me, you know,' Orr said, as if reading his thoughts. 'I'm a pretty good pilot, and I'll take good care of you. Even though I get knocked out a lot, which ain't my fault to begin with, nobody ever gets hurt in my plane. It would be smart of you if you went right ahead and told them you want to fly all your missions with me from now on.'

Yossarian leaned forward and took a closer look at Orr's face, currently a battlefield of many contradictory emotions, concealed poorly by his usual grin.

'Orr. Are you trying to tell me something?' he asked firmly, trying to look into his eyes.

'Tee-hee-hee,' Orr responded with a snicker. 'I’m trying to tell you why that big girl with the  
shoe was hitting me on the head that day.'

'No. That's not it. Stop trying to distract me,' Yossarian insisted, shaking his head. 'Look me in the eyes and tell me what you really are trying to say.'

Orr hesitated. Finally, he looked up at Yossarian, his bulging eyes drilling into his soul once again. 'Will you fly with me?' he asked.

Yossarian sighed. 'Why do you want me to fly with you so badly?' he asked back instead of giving an answer.

'I told you. I'm a good pilot. You would be safe with me,' Orr repeated himself patiently.

Yossarian squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. He was far too exhausted to deal with this on top of everything.

'Do you trust me?' Orr asked suddenly. Yossarian immediately opened his eyes again.

'What?' he asked.

'Do you trust me?' Orr repeated, looking into his eyes intently.

Yossarian threw his head back and pondered the question seriously. His first instinct was to say yes. Orr was the one person in the world he trusted even the tiniest bit, because, as far as he knew, Orr had never lied to him. He was probably too simple-minded to even consider doing that.

'I do,' he said. 'But I don't trust you not to crash land,' he added with forced laughter.

'Who said that's a bad thing,' Orr asked, snickering. 'I told you, you wouldn't get hurt. I would take care of you.'

Yossarian straed at him for a while. 'I just can't get over it, sorry. I just know you'll get knocked out again, and I'm already terrified enough as is.'

'Let's strike a deal. Just fly with me once. Tell them you want to fly the next mission with me. I promise I will take care of everything. Do you trust me to do that much?'

Yossarian exhaled. 'Just once, and you will shut up and never ask me to do it again?'

'Just once. I will never ask you for anything again,' Orr swore, crossing his heart. 'One more thing, though.'

'What is it now?' Yossarian asked, ready to be irritated and take everything back.

'Trust me completely. Including if we get shot.'

'Fine, fine. Whatever,' Yossarian said, lying down with his eyes closed. 'Just once. I'll let them know.'

'You won't regret it,' Orr assured, continuing to meticulously work on his valve. 'I'll be your good luck charm.'

Orr kept talking, but Yossarian couldn't hear him – he had fallen asleep.

As soon as he woke up, he did as he promised and asked to fly his next mission with Orr, who wouldn't leave his side to make sure that he didn't forget. Yossarian still couldn't understand why he was so persistent.

After the mission, neither he nor Orr came back to the base.

Weeks later, news broke that they turned up safe in Sweden.


End file.
